NPC - 2009 make-or-break year for Northland rugby

This year is likely to be remembered as a make-or-break season for Northland rugby.
As Northland Rugby Union chairman Andrew Golightly left a two-day Air New Zealand Cup workshop in Wellington yesterday, he said there wasn't much he could say to the media before he briefed his board about the workshop.
But he did say the 2009 season would have "huge significance" for the union, fans and stakeholders, which suggested that the agenda, to once again cut the teams from the Air NZ Cup, was on the table.
"It's a great opportunity for us to once again demonstrate - like we did last year - that we deserve to be in the top flight of New Zealand provincial rugby," Golightly said.
He said Northland's presence in the top flight was achievable but couldn't be taken for granted.
"We learned that last year but we now need to build on that and continue to go forward," he said.
The NZRU has said the cup competition is unsustainable in its current form and, although the provincial unions had believed there would be no change to the competition until 2011, it now seems likely a smaller competition will be proposed for the 2010 season.
Golightly said the feeling at the meeting was that there was consensus for change, but any final decision would have to be considered to be in the best interests of New Zealand rugby and that would have to be decided by the NZRU Board.
Golightly said further details would be released next week.